Hollywood hero Jerry Bruckheimer has officially taken the lid off Jerry Bruckheimer Games, his debut foray into the "risky, hits-driven game business."

Bruckheimer, the movie mogul who brought us such cultural high-water marks as the Pirates of the Caribbean, National Treasure and CSI franchises, has hired two industry veterans to anchor the new company: Former Microsoft Game Studios Publishing Executive Producer Jim Veevaert as president of production and Jay Cohen, previously Ubisoft's vice president of U.S. publishing, as president of development. "I have never developed a game," Bruckheimer admitted. "I'm kind of a neophyte at this."

Bruckheimer's interest in games was actually revealed in late 2007 when he and MTV announced a partnership as part of MTV's move into the gaming business. Projects underway at the new studio weren't discussed but Cohen said Jerry Bruckheimer Games would develop original franchises and also partner with outside studios on new projects. Games produced by the studio will be published by MTV Games.

Despite his lack of experience, Bruckheimer said he isn't intimidated by the prospect of moving to a new medium, nor of the decidedly poor results achieved thus far by other movie types who have tried to crack the nut of videogaming. "Games are evolving just like movies. There's storytelling and there's character development in games," he said. "We're in the entertainment business. We entertain you in theaters, on TV and on your game platforms."

"This is not Hollywood approaching games," he continued. "Jay and I have worked on a number of successful game projects. We're bringing the best talent in Hollywood together with the best talent in games to make entertainment that is complementary."

Call me crazy, but I see this blowing past anyone's cynical expectations. I know what you're saying, this guy doesn't know anything about the gaming industry. True, but I think most of his skills as a producer will carry over pretty nicely: hire talented people, get the project done on time and within budget, have a sixth sense for what makes young men squeal with glee.

tendo82:Call me crazy, but I see this blowing past anyone's cynical expectations. I know what you're saying, this guy doesn't know anything about the gaming industry. True, but I think most of his skills as a producer will carry over pretty nicely: hire talented people, get the project done on time and within budget, have a sixth sense for what makes young men squeal with glee.

I agree. Without the vaugly sexual part of making young men squeal with glee. As long as he focus's on what he's good at - teh flashyness and the production, and leaves the GAME part to the GAME DESIGNERS, it could be good.

tendo82:Call me crazy, but I see this blowing past anyone's cynical expectations. I know what you're saying, this guy doesn't know anything about the gaming industry. True, but I think most of his skills as a producer will carry over pretty nicely: hire talented people, get the project done on time and within budget, have a sixth sense for what makes young men squeal with glee.

So you're buying into the same theory that the Houston Rockets bought into when they hired Dork Elvis Daryl Morey as their GM, a guy who didn't have any real basketball experience but who is a smart guy who knows how to run a business?

Intriguing theory, and it'll be interesting to see if Bruckheimer's no-doubt fresh approach to the industry will set a trend or whether it'll crash, burn, and prove that geeks are a whole different pack of animals who don't follow traditional market rules. I'm especially interested to see whether he follows the EA model, the Stardock model, or something in between (like Steamworks) when it comes to DRM.